Psych: "9 Lives" Review

Potential aplenty in a steadily rising series.

We admit it; Psych is growing on us. But it's not without its faults, which this week's episode (entitled "9 Lives") displays in many ways. But we can't deny that the show is getting stronger and feels to be hitting its stride. Perhaps Psych has a future, after all.

This week's episode seems to fit the mold that we've been given so far. A case is being investigated by the Santa Barbara Police Department. The main character and "fake psychic," Shawn, somehow gets involved in the case (whether he sees news coverage on television, or sneaks onto the crime scene, et cetera) and makes observations that no one realizes he's making. He then uses what he's seen (and sometimes discovered for himself due to his keen detective skills) in fake psychic visions to convince the police of his own authenticity. His friend and assistant, Gus, will get involved, and the two detectives on the show (Lassiter and O'Hara) will play Shawn's game (one hating it, one loving it). Meanwhile, Karen Vick, the police chief, will get further sucked into and convinced that Shawn's psychic abilities are real.

Of course, they're not. And we as viewers know that the entire time, which is part of the show's appeal. And as we've gone over in previous reviews of episodes past, we're wondering if the show will take an inevitable turn and let loose Shawn's big secret, that he's really just a talented detective who fakes his psychic readings. But this week's episode actually made us laugh - a lot. When a string of presumed suicides is literally walked into by Shawn and Gus one day, it becomes clear that Shawn is suspicious that something is amiss. And he's right; the suicides end up being murders, making the detectives with the police department look stupid and Shawn look better and better to the chief (it seems like it'll be going like this for a while).

But there's a funny twist to this entire story, that being the cat who somehow works his way into the storyline as a cat who can talk to Shawn and give him information (at least, that's what Shawn tells the police department). It's quite hysterical watching him talk to the cat, the funniest scene being when the cat rides in the front of the car with Shawn's assistant Gus riding in the back seat. It's also funny how passive and well-trained this cat is, and how it kinda just plays both "dumb" and "cute" whenever it's held (though it occasionally tries to get away - always awkward to witness).

This week's storyline was interesting - your standard detective comedy fare a la Monk. However, the show doesn't seem as frustratingly contrived anymore, or even remotely stupid and unnecessary like it once felt. Instead, it feels like it has potential, that was until recently unrealized. It's becoming clear that there is a formula (executed the last couple of weeks) that works well for this show. As long as Psych keeps going in this manner, it's a fun show to watch. Otherwise, it can be terribly mediocre.